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No Comment!

As press interest in Groupon has grown, I’ve found myself increasingly uttering two words that have always annoyed me: “no comment.” We like to be as transparent with our customers as possible, but, just as people don’t walk around naked, there are some things that we as a company don’t talk about (for obvious reasons).

The least we can do is be transparent about the things we won’t be transparent about, which are listed below:

* Plans relating to capital-raising, including a possible public offering
* Pre-announcements of new products
* Our competitors or the competitive landscape
* Statements on core business metrics, including margins or profitability
* Any projections regarding revenue, growth rates or other financial metrics
* Strategic transactions or partnerships with other companies

While we’ll clam up when asked about the above business-y stuff, we’ll always be straight forward about things that affect the experience we’re creating for customers and merchants.

This bugs me for some reason. I understand the necessity to keep certain strategic or financial information private, but to come out and say you won’t talk about anything seems a little weird. Strike two.

I disagree with ESTEBAN’s comment. I think you have a right to NOT talk about whatever you want! You’re doing a great job of being transparent & being the public face of Groupon. People are just rude sometimes. For example, the interviewer who asked you if you had done a spray tan… how rude!

Do people think if they keep asking you private questions that they will be the lucky one to get the secret scoop? If you won’t tell Matt Lauer–what makes others think they are so special? Keep up the great work Andrew!

What’s funny is that all of this supposed strategic information isn’t that hard to figure out. Sure, the public doesn’t need to know what happening on the financing side, but come on. We know Groupon will have to enter the travel market or purchase TripAlertz. We know Google’s coming out with their local deal system. We know Bing just created a deal aggregation service. It’s not hard to figure out what the company will need to do to stay competitive.

Andrew, everyone wants to know the top money maker’s secrets. And, while it is the press’s “job” to get the story out of you, it is your perogative and your secrets that have made your business plan work. So, koodos on the tight lips, but more importantly, thanks for the honesty and the availabilty to your consumers and businesses.